I Will Free You
by dont.kill.me.please
Summary: Sakura and Deidara are partners, but what will happen when he goes off to fight Sasuke? DeiSaku one-shot. Rated T for language


Sakura clung lightly to the back of Deidara's Akatsuki cloak as his clay bird took a slight decline, gliding over the lush trees. Tobi, on the other hand, was glued to Sakura's back, wrapping his arms tightly around her middle in an uncomfortable position.

"Tobi, can you loosen up a bit? I can't really breathe." Sakura attempted to work her fingers under his arms to pry him loose, but he just clung on tighter, his face buried in her left shoulder blade.

"But Sakura-sempai, Tobi is scared of heights. That's why Deidara-sempai doesn't take Tobi flying very often because Deidara-sempai doesn't like Tobi holding on to him," he said, with the pout Sakura imagined he would have in this situation hidden under his mask.

"Tobi, it's very uncomfortable when you cling to someone that way, un," Deidara explained, slightly annoyed. "They can't breathe, and when people can't breathe, they die, un. Do you want Sakura-san to die, un?" Tobi heard none of this, because he was staring down at a small clearing, where a lone figure was standing. Sakura, clutching a little tighter to Deidara to avoid falling off, leaned over to see if she could figure out who this person was. When she saw his face as he looked up at the bird, she almost did fall off, having let go of her human anchor to smother her scream. Deidara snaked his arm around her Tobi-less waist and yanked her into his chest just in time. If she hadn't been so shocked at their earthly friend's identity, she would have noticed that Deidara's heart kept beating long after she was safe, and his arm was still pinning her to his chest. But the fact that she hadn't seen _him_ since he nearly killed her, Naruto, and Sai scared her. But there was no mistaking his spiky black hair, so dark it almost seemed blue in the noon sun. Or the Sharingan eyes that she knew so well. Or the cheesy new outfit, for that matter.

"Deidara," she whispered, "Did Pein-sama send you to kill him?" Deidara only nodded, his soft blonde hair falling over his eyes as he steered to another clearing several kilometers off. For some reason, when the bird landed, Tobi bounced off, rolling almost comically into a tree, where he remained conked out. Deidara lifted her off the bird, his hands lingering on her waist longer than what was probably appropriate but she didn't notice and was far beyond caring at that point. She swatted his shoulder playfully.

"Promise you'll be careful, okay? I don't want to pull a hook out of your stomach again." He scoffed at her worriedness.

"I'll be fine, Sakura-chan. What can your loser ex do to me that his even worse brother can't?" She grabbed the collar of his cloak, yanking him forward.

"I don't want you to fight him."

Deidara's gaze hardened at that, and he unweaved Sakura's fingers from his cloak and walked in Sasuke's direction. He turned his head slightly, not quite facing her, but enough for her to see the cold eyes that hid behind them a breaking heart.

"I see how it is," he said, his voice void of any emotion. "You're trying to protect him, aren't you?" Sakura was deeply shocked, and her vision blurred.

"But Deida-" he cut her off.

"You still love him!" he cried, pointing towards Sasuke's direction. "I'm stronger than he is. You don't want me to hurt him, do you!?" the tears kept coming, and in vain, she grabbed his sleeve, tugging on it lightly.

"Deidara, I don't care about him, I care about you!" he stopped, his expression unreadable. "if you die out there, I don't know what I'll do…" her voice cracked slightly, and she whispered the words she never thought she'd say again. "I love you." Deidara stared at her, shocked, almost frightened.

"W-what did you say?" he asked, after a long pause. His voice was full of disbelief. She lifted her head to look at him, her eyes still glistening, her cheeks wet.

"I love you so much I can't even stand it." The irony of the situation nearly made her laugh. "I don't want him to kill you, and I'm afraid he will. Deidara, please…" her voice trailed off. "don't go…" Deidara took her hand lightly, weighing his options, then pulled her towards him, into his arms in a tight hug. She buried her face into his collarbone, sobbing helplessly. He buried his face in her pink hair, almost crying himself as he admitted to her what he's been wanting to say for a long time.

"I love you too, Sakura. I just was waiting for the right moment to tell you." He weaved his fingers into her silky hair, silently commanding the tongues on his hands to keep the hell away from her ear. "I've loved you since you saved my life." He let his hands slide from her head to her neck, and slowly pulled her off of him till he could see her face. "If I die, I want you to know that I love you, and no matter where I am, I always will." Bringing one hand up to caress the side of her face, he brushed away tears with his thumb.

"If you die," she said, then started to bite her lip. "If you die, I'll never forget you. I will find you and join you someday." He laughed a little, and said softly, his eyes never leaving hers,

"There's no place for angels in Hell, Sakura," and brought his face down to touch her lips to his.

Her reaction was unexpected. She grabbed his hair, pulling his head and body as close as she could, arching her back so that she followed every curve in his body. His left arm slunk to her middle back and he pressed her even closer, their kiss electrifying as her tongue snaked into his mouth. They stayed like this for several minutes, not two souls, but one, joined together in a rapid flutter of combined heartbeats and synchronized gasps. Deidara kissed her lips once, twice, three times. Sakura's eyes flickered open, and with a coarse, broken whisper, broke Deidara's heart.

"Don't go." He kissed her once more, softly, with more passion than he could put into words.

"I have to go, Sakura." He slipped a piece of paper into her pocket. "Read this if I don't come back…I love you more than you can imagine, Sakura. Remember me. Honor me by moving on with your life. Promise me you will never let go." A single tear, slightly stained with his black eyeliner, slid down his face and landed on hers. And with a light kiss on her forehead, he was gone.

"DEIDARA!! NO!!!!" she flew after him, but he was already out of sight. She collapsed on the ground in a whimpering, boneless pile. A hand touched her shoulder. She didn't even turn her head.

"Sakura-sempai, Deidara-sempai will be fine, Tobi knows it." She looked at him, a light but insincere smile on her face.

"You're right, Tobi. He'll be fine." She looked solemnly back in the direction Deidara had gone, and whispered to herself, "he has to be."

"I hate you! You and your accursed brother!" Deidara screamed at the spiky haired ninja in front of him. "You had everything you could have wanted, and you threw it all away! I have a girlfriend! How do you think she will feel when she finds out that you killed me?! She hates you enough as it is!" Sasuke stared, emotionless.

"Who is your girlfriend?" he asked, not really curious, but buying time as he restored some of his chakra.

"Why, _Sasuke-kun_, I believe you tried to kill her and her friends recently. As I recall, _she was in love with you!_ How could you throw something so precious away?" this time, the shock was visible on his face.

"S-Sakura-chan?" he was having trouble registering the fact that his old teammate was the girlfriend of his enemy.

"Yes. Guess how long I actually had with her? Five minutes. Five FUCKING minutes." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Well," Deidara mused. "Looks like I have no choice." His hand traveled to the thread keeping the mouth on his chest in check. He blinked; he had discarded his eyepiece some time ago, and he was still unused to the brightness his left eye received. He yanked on the thread. Its removal was followed by a small spurt of blood. Suddenly, the mouth ripped open, causing Sasuke to stumble back into a tree. Deidara took his last bit of clay and popped it into the mouth.

"Now you'll see," he cried, "That my art is…A BLAST!!! KATSU!!!"

_"Sakura, my sweet, beautiful Sakura, don't you know? That was necessary. I killed the man who ruined your life. I had no other choice. I had to. I wanted to. I wanted to avenge all of your sorrow. I think, that, in a way, I am avenging the Kyuubi's sorrow too. I hope you don't capture him. I know how much that would torture you. Please don't hate me. Move on with your life. You will marry someone who will love you almost as much as I did. You'll see. I love you. Don't you ever forget that." Deidara stood between the line of life and death. He only hoped Sakura could hear him. Suddenly, he saw her in the distance, surrounded by a bath of golden light. "Sakura!" he cried, chasing after her. "SAKURAAA!" Without realizing it, he had crossed over to the side of death, and Sakura faded away as his own voice echoed in his ears._

"_There is no place for angels in Hell."_

"A BLAST! KATSU!!!" Suddenly a shockwave flashed by Sakura, battering her with large sticks and clumps of grass. It lasted only a few seconds, but with a sickening jolt, she realized what had happened.

"DEIDARA!!!" she started racing down the hill, past the burnt trees, through the patches of fire, until she reached a large crater. She ran to the center, searching for Deidara, hoping, praying, that he would be okay.

"Deidara!" she called. Suddenly, she noticed a flash of metal near the tree line. Racing towards it, she realized what it was. There, scorched but otherwise unharmed, was his eyepiece. She stared sobbing, holding the scrap of metal in her hands like it was a baby bird.

"No, no, no, NO, NO!!!!" she screamed, crying even harder. She placed the eyepiece in her pocket, and felt a piece of paper. Remembering that Deidara had told her to read it if he died, she pulled it out, wiping her tears on the back of her hand. His slanted handwriting stood out on the dirty scrap of paper, and she read through blurred eyes.

_Dear Sakura,_

_If you're reading this, I am dead. God damnit, I hope that Sasuke died. Seeing as I most likely blew myself up, he probably is. Please don't cry over me, Sakura. I love you. Yeah, I know that is a big thing to say, but I do. I have since you pulled that hook out of my stomach on that one mission, remember? I was swearing the whole time. Everything of mine is yours. Tobi can have all my clay sculptures of him. You can have anything else you find in my room, k? in fact, you can have my room. Sakura, I know you probably don't love me the way I love you, but I just wanted you to know that._

_I love you more than you will ever know._

_Deidara_

Sakura died inside that day. She never ended up marrying anyone. After the Akatsuki was defeated, she asked Naruto if she could stay in their old hideout. She never fell in love again either. After discovering that Sasuke was alive however, he didn't stay alive for much longer. Naruto didn't even know he had survived. Twelve years after his death, Kohona lost contact with her. She had died from a broken heart, they found, after they sent a search party to the hideout. Yes, maybe there is no place for angels in hell. But thanks to one very convincing angel, one devil got promoted. One hell of a promotion, right? Unfortunately, God has a curfew. The devil that is sometimes an angel gets kicked out at eight thirty.


End file.
